Both running lights have failed simultaneously

[Bobajobbob]

Evening all, I took my 2013 Vantage in for a service today and they report that the LED running lights on both clusters aren't working. I'm guessing that this is going to be a very expensive repair requiring 2 new units but i just wanted to check if there are any tricks to bringing them back to life? It does seem a bit strange that both have failed simultaneously. The dealer has quoted about 3 grand to install the new units, does that sound about right or can these be had for 200 quid each from a parts supplier?

thanks

[Bobajobbob]

Cheers I feared as much. Given how little i've driven the car recently I wonder whether having it cleaned jet/washed has contributed to it at all.

[Bobajobbob]

Thanks all for the feedback and offers. I’ll take a look at the possible repair services before considering options. Given the state of the world at the moment nothing is going to be easy.

[Bobajobbob]

I wish I knew that. As a naturally suspicious person I did wonder immediately whether this is a common service trick to find a job for the garage to do. The lights must have been working last august for the MOT but I haven't looked at the front of the car with the lights on since. Not that it has moved much either. What is going to be close to 4k just to fix what used to be the cost of a couple of new light bulbs is one of the more painful costs I think i've had in my entire history of cars.

I guess my suspicion about the garage pulling a fast one abated when I ran some searches and found this to be a pretty common problem.

Just to confirm with you guys the car will fail its next MOT without these lights running won't it?

[Bobajobbob]

TarquinMX5 said:

Bobajobbob said:

I wish I knew that. As a naturally suspicious person I did wonder immediately whether this is a common service trick to find a job for the garage to do. The lights must have been working last august for the MOT but I haven't looked at the front of the car with the lights on since. Not that it has moved much either. What is going to be close to 4k just to fix what used to be the cost of a couple of new light bulbs is one of the more painful costs I think i've had in my entire history of cars.

I guess my suspicion about the garage pulling a fast one abated when I ran some searches and found this to be a pretty common problem.

Just to confirm with you guys the car will fail its next MOT without these lights running won't it?

As far as I'm aware, DRLs are only tested on the MoT for cars regd on/after 1st March 2018, so may not have been working at the last MoT. Not sure of the situation if one works and one doesn't.

If it was mine, I might be tempted to leave them, assuming it is not an MoT issue, as it seems to be a 'not-unusual' issue on Vantages. Imagine, you replace both, then one fails again and just having one working is an MoT failure.

Thanks all for the additional feedback.

The dealer told me that it is an MOT fail though now I come to think about it he did the last MOT as well. His explanation was that the running lights are the side lights. If anyone has more info or knowledge on this it would be useful as I probably wouldn't bother fixing them in a hurry if it wasn't an MOT fail.

[Bobajobbob]

Hard to tell if they failed at exactly the same time but must have both failed in the months since last MOT. I’m told by dealer that there isn’t a single fuse governing these lights as it would impact on main beams and rear lights as well.

[Bobajobbob]

LTP said:

I'm not trying to be clever or pedantic here, but UK Vantages from 2013 don't have running lights, they have side lamps. When the lights are off (on the switch or auto) the white LED's will not be lit - they only come on when the lights are switched on.

At the risk of teaching you to suck eggs, turn the sidelights on on the light switch and check to see if they are lit. Then try the indicators - on the side you're indicating to the LEDs will flash orange.

This is why dealer tells me it is an MOT fail. The LEDS are apparently the side light. All other beams and indicators work fine. It is just the LED strips that do not come on when light switch is in side, full or auto position.

[Bobajobbob]

Apologies for resurrecting this thread. I eventually paid full whack and replaced both units as getting them fixed mid covid seemed too much of a hassle. The most expensive light bulb replacements ever.

When this thread was new(wish) someone contacted me and enquired about taking the old light units off my hands but I have unfortunately lost their contact details.

Moderator edit: no advertising please